The former Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Panchkula, Sushil Sarwan, an IAS officer of the 2012 batch, was relieved of his principal charge on April 11 by the Haryana Government, reportedly following a directive from the Election Commission of India (ECI). This action was taken because his official recorded home district is Ambala, and Panchkula District falls under the Ambala Parliamentary Constituency (PC). Although the Panchkula DC is neither the Returning Officer (RO) nor the Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) of Ambala PC, the DC of Panchkula is ex-officio designated as the District Election Officer (DEO) of Panchkula district.
Interestingly, last year, Sarwan had his home district changed from Panchkula to Ambala after questions were raised regarding his posting as DC in his former home district of Panchkula in August 2023. Despite being relieved of his duties as DC, Sarwan continues to remain in Panchkula district, now serving as the Chief Administrator of Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board, a position he held as an additional charge while serving as DC, Panchkula, since August 2023.
Meanwhile, Hemant Kumar, an Advocate at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh, has written to the ECI to highlight the fact that the current DC of Bhiwani District in the State of Haryana, Naresh Kumar, an IAS officer of the 2011 batch, who has been ex-officio designated by the ECI via a Gazette Notification under Section 13AA of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 as the District Election Officer (DEO) for Bhiwani District falling under the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Parliamentary Constituency (PC), is scheduled to retire from government service on June 30, 2024. In light of this, Hemant asserts that the aforementioned IAS officer falls under Para 6(vi) of the ECI’s instructions dated December 21, 2023, which stipulates that such an officer shall be relieved of that charge and not be associated with any election-related duty.
Hemant has urged the ECI to promptly intervene in this matter and make a prudent decision to ensure the appointment of another officer as Deputy Commissioner in Bhiwani District of Haryana, who is ex-officio designated as the DEO for Bhiwani District falling under the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Parliamentary Constituency (PC).